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AI with an ROI: Innovation that can improve care, cut costs

The funny thing about the future is that we always expect it to materialize in front of us in dramatic fashion.

But it doesn’t work like that. Instead, tomorrow sneaks up on us, already under our noses when we finally see it. Case in point: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of natural language processing (NLP).

“AI” is one of those terms that’s used so often it has lost much of its meaning. The concept has created a lot of hype without offering many examples of real contributions to health care. NLP is the exception. It’s an AI technology that promises a real “next step” into the future. For example, NLP is already helping providers realize a world where spending hours manually extracting health data, line by line, is a thing of the past. Most importantly, it’s also giving clinicians crucial insight into their patients’ needs.

And it’s all as simple as a computer that “reads” like humans — only much faster. Put simply, NLP-powered systems scan and organize unstructured health data (like those cryptic physicians’ notes). The result? Actionable data that allows providers to respond rapidly with measurable impacts on efficiency and care quality.

It’s been said that AI is “disrupting” many industries — including health care. But where NLP and medicine are concerned, a better term might be “revolutionizing.”

Click here to view a new article from Optum, Natural Language Processing: AI with an ROI, which explores how NLP provides a meaningful AI innovation that helps providers improve care, cut costs and, indeed, change the health care game forever.

About the Author:

Leslie Cozatt currently serves as Campaign Director, OptumIQ. She directs the development of content that spotlights the role of data and analytics in health care.

She brings to her role more than 20 years of experience developing B2B and B2C integrated marketing campaigns for companies including ThreeWire, Eliance and 3M.

Leslie attended the University of Minnesota and graduated from Wellington College with a BS in international business & communication.